Solution to friggin hot Macbook pro keyboard

In the winter, it's actually kind of a boon to have a keyboard that doubles as a radiant heater, especially if you poor circulation in your fingers (/me points to myself). However, as a short spring dissolves into oppressive Idaho heat, the heat might make one a little wary of using the onboard keyboard for fear of the dripping sweat shorting out some of the circuitry concealed below.

Here's the solution: a nice free app called smcFanControl. It allows you to change the speed of your macbook fans up to the healthy limit. As an illustration, I just flipped it on and in the last minute the temp showing on the tasteful menu bar display has dropped 10 degrees.

I appreciate the default macbook settings, which can be really nice when recording music. In contrast, my Dell laptop fan runs all the time, and it's a challenge operating a software-based recording app from across the room. But, I also like having a choice.

As a bonus for those of you who are putting off flipping on the AC for as long as possible, also consider using a Lapinater plus with the Mousitizer extension. Keeps an inch and a half of insulation between my legs and the bottom of the mac, which is considerably warmer than the top. For couch-based telecommuters, it also adds a new range of positions to choose from (diagrams to come).